I've been covering the business of news, information and entertainment in one form or another for more than 10 years. In February 2014, I moved to San Francisco to cover the tech beat. My primary focus is social media and digital media, but I'm interested in other aspects, including but not limited to the sharing economy, lifehacking, fitness & sports tech and the evolving culture of the Bay Area. In past incarnations I've worked at AOL, Conde Nast Portfolio, Radar and WWD. Circle me on Google+, follow me on Twitter or send me tips or ideas at jbercovici@forbes.com.

Service Workers March On Twitter To Protest $56 Million Tax Break

That was one of the chants heard Tuesday afternoon at a rally outside San Francisco’s City Hall, where members of the Service Employees International Union protested generous tax breaks given to Twitter and other tech companies based in the city.

The protest ostensibly focused on Twitter, which the SEIU says managed to avoid paying $56 million in taxes thanks to a deal with the city. But it covered the waterfront of the grievances that are being levied with increasing frequency and volume against the region’s tech giants.

One speaker claimed police are engaging in brutal and even lethal tactics against innocent citizens in an effort to please the upscale tech workers who are flooding into previously working-class neighborhoods like the Mission. Another, inevitably, brought up the issue of the shuttle buses operated by GoogleGoogle and a number of other Silicon Valley companies.

Under a recently approved pilot program, the companies involved are paying $1 to the MTA each time one of their buses uses a municipal stop as a pick-up or drop-off point. “Our parking and traffic officers are working double duty, but can they ride the bus for a dollar?” asked one speaker. “I don’t think so.”

As the protesters prepared to march from City Hall to Twitter’s Market Street headquarters, the SEIU’s Larry Bradshaw took a few minutes to articulate his group’s position.

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